Ken vs. the City

Last week in The Times (London), Arthur C. Clarker wrote a short article about the possibility of a Space Elevator. He also compares man’s exploration of space to the exploration of Antarctica (ie: we went there, let the thing rest for a few decades, and then returned with permenant research teams.)

It’s an interesting article. Nothing revolutionary; you’d probably even get more technical data from a publication like Popular Science than an editorial like this. Clarke has written a couple of science fiction stories about space elevator-like things. The one I remember best is the novel 3001: Final Odyssey, where the people of Earth have constructed equatorial skyscrapers that reach all the way into low Earth orbit.

Regardless, I like hearing what he had to say on the subject. Some of Clarke’s stories are among my favorites, namely 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Rendezvous with Rama. Oh, and he’s also the inventor of the communications satellite. Not bad for a writer.

Some of you may remember the free NYC wifi hotspot post I did many long months ago. Looks like Google is now a proud sponsor of the Bryant Park hotspot.

There have been rumors that Google is working to set up some sort of free wifi service. Could this be part of it?

I had this great idea for a TV show: The Dude View. It would be an evening talk show, and have Brett Favre, Tom Hanks, Steve Jobs, Bono, and Donald Trump sitting around a table in front of a live audience chatting about current events, and issues, with occasional special guests like Burt Rutan, inventor of Space Ship One, and discussing how men relate to the world.

Okay, maybe not. But all the “guy” programming on TV these days consists of cheesy Steven Segal movies on Spike. I like a good beat ‘em up as much as the next guy, but the list of intensely heart-felt, relevant, and heroic beat ‘em ups is incredibly short. And there’s so many more things that are relevant to men out there, and media companies don’t seem to give them a second glance.

I just got done with a long day at a major online advertising conference for work. My main job there was to hang out and meet people. That’s a tiring job when you’re on your feet from 9-6. But afterwards our company put on a party at a nearby night club. My co-workers refer to that type of gig as a “schmooze party,” and it went on ’till midnight. I have to admit; that kind of party is not exactly my bag of chips.

Not to say it wasn’t an experience. I met the guy responsible for the popularity of the McDonald’s Happy Meal, as well as a couple of CEOs. And for some reason the boss, who used to be a party planner, likes to partner with modelling agencies for his parties, so there were a number of models and photographers there too. All very interesting people.

But, while it’s an interesting opportunity to meet people, it’s absolutely impossible to really get to know anyone. Everyone puts on their happy face, whips out their business cards, and then moves on to the next person until they get drunk. Then they act like morons, spouting the first things that comes to mind until they’re dead tired, and then go home, never having invested anything significant in anyone.

Being a writer, some time things pop into my head and I have to write them down while the writing’s good. Here’s what I sat down to write right in the middle of the party. It’s unedited, and it’s so rought I’d hardly call it a poem. I haven’t even taken the time to break it down into couplets like I usually do. It’s a brief snapshot of my collected thoughts, straight from my notebook, at that particular moment:

I am Gatsby, the great undertow on the tides of fatal misfortune of surface-level Dreams. The peace of the Deep eludes me. The calm of the Hurricane is beyond me, and all I can see is fading foam–here one minute, and gone the next. Who shall sail my shallow ocean? What ship of shallow draft exists on this present Earth can navigate my currents and eddies long enough to reach the steadying shore? For I am the very light of social ambuguity. All who lack substance come and bathe in my bright and glistening waters. All who seek sustenance in my waters will find only meat of sugar and drink of dust. For I am at the very soul of the one who thinks he knows no limits, and yet runs aground. I am the deep ocean’s cousin–the prodigal brother who stays at home and dreams of grandure.

I just recently finished reading Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. Even though the summer is over now, I’m convinced that it’s a perfect summer book.

It’s not really a novel. It’s more of a collection of short stories knitted to gether with a common theme, common characters, and a common setting: that of a small midwestern town. I love the way Bradbury writes, and the way he uses words to describe the world. It’s as if he has supernatural insight into the world as seen through the eyes of children, complete with wonders, fears, and expectations. Two of the primary characters are kids, experiencing the summer that exists in youth, who kind of remind me of how summer was when I was a kid.

I remember my friends and I would run through the woods, build tree houses, and sneak into places that children were never meant to go. I remember magic: the pulse of God was in everything from the trees to the automobiles. The world was new, and every new day brought something unexpected, whether I found I could make a base hit, or I discovered that Newton’s laws of motion really were true. Every piece of fool’s gold was real gold, and a demon was hidden behind every shadow.

Something about the way Bradbury writes children helps him write old people just as well. There’s something about the two ends of life that gives them a similar perspective. Maybe it’s because while children are exploring this world, old people are on the verge of exploring the next.

Even though my favorite Bradbury stories: The Martian Chronicles, and Fahrenheit 451 don’t have kids as main characters, the guy’s knack for big-eyed description has been unmatched by any other author I have ever read. And for some reason the New York Public Library categorizes Dandelion Wine as Science Fiction, which beats me. There’s no space men, no starships. Just folks in the summer. If anything, I’d classify it as borderline fantasy, since there’s a part where someone mentions magic. However, I’d argue that the way Bradbury writes, everything is magic.

At work I trawl through different news sites looking for online ad industry news. I also prefer to get my normal news from the internet, since all CNN is covering on TV is Katrina. Here are some of my favorite sites:

Digg
A geek news site that uses a unique method of gathering news and editing. Users log on to the site, and post links to anything they consider newsworthy. Each post is placed in a queue where other users can “digg” (aka vote) for it. The posts with the most “diggs” are promoted on the main home page.

Slashdot
The tech news site. News is user-submitted. The editor decides what goes up on the site, and what doesn’t.

Yahoo! News
I like Yahoo! news, because it combines news from nearly all the major news publications.

Google News
Like Yahoo!, Google also combines news from different sources, but all the links lead to other web sites, which can sometimes cause problems.

Michael Yon: Online Magazine
Definately not hard news. But if you want to find out what’s going on in Iraq, hear it from a guy who’s actually there, and actually getting shot at.

Through a series of rather unruly hacks, I’ve managed to display the most recent comments you guys have made on the bar on the right. Pretty nifty, huh?

There’s still a few bugs to work out though, as you can tell from the way the titles are displayed.

This evening as I was walking home, I came across a guy wandering around on a Segway Human Transporter (AKA goofy scooter thing). He didn’t look like the stereotypically nerdy Segway owner, he just looked like an ordinary guy out for a stroll.

We were both waiting at the corner for the light to change, so I leaned over and said, “Hey, nice scooter.”

All he did was nod and say, “Yep,” like he wasn’t really up for a conversation. Maybe he was just a little self-conscious. I know I would be if I was riding on a Segway. In spite of the cool technology behind them, those things really are goofy.

Nevertheless, I still wanted to talk to the Segway man, since I’d never actually seen a Segway in-person, so I asked, “How fast does that thing go?”

I was expecting him to say something in the twenty mile-per-hour range (those Segways are pretty hefty) but he said, “about 12 miles an hour.” I was a little disappointed until I realized that was pretty darn quick.

I was going to ask something else, but then the light changed and the Segway Man scooted on thwn the sidewalk. He stopped by some homeless people, and watched them for a few seconds, but then he took off again around the corner.

Where else in the world can a guy just go out for an evening stroll on their goofy ‘lectric scooter? In New York you swear you’ve seen it all, and then along comes a guy on a Segway.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/

I found this great cooking blog. It’s got food history, tools, recipe charts, all kinds of stuff. It might even get me cooking again if I get grocery store any time soon.

Ahh, no training sail today. Oh, well. I’m sure I’ll get my chance to test the high seas some time in the next few weeks.