Ransen's Blog

I listened to the LibriVox.Org audio book of " The Big Time " by Fritz Leiber. I had been searching for " A Spectre Is Haunting Texas " by the same bloke, but found " The Big Time ". I was amazed at how well it has stood the test of time (published in 1958), and how well it was read by Karen Savage. LibriVox is "the acoustical liberation of books in the public domain", and has tons of good stuff to listen to. " The Big Time " is really a strange and gripping story. I'd been looking for " A Spectre Is Haunting Texas " by Fritz Leiber as a nostalgia trip. In my early teens I read a lot of Science Fiction, and the title of this book has stuck in my mind. I didn't remember much about the novel, except that I'd enjoyed it and that it featured a human used to living in space and so in need of an artificial motorized exoskeleton for his trip to Earth. That cover, is it tacky or good artwork? In the book the "spectre

I've just finished reading " Il Gattopardo " by Tomasi Di Lampedusa. It's brilliant. I won't spoil the plot for you, but there is a description of a death, from inside the dying person, which struck me as calm and restful. If I could die like that (sometime in the future ) I'd sign up now.  Because I'm worried about Alzheimer's and incapacity, loss of control, ending up in a care-home bored out of my wits. I read " To Die Well " and " Final Exit ", practical guides to self deliverance. The two books tell you how to kill yourself in a humane way, and give lots of other practical advice. Ideally of course I'll die in my sleep or in a one-victim car crash, a vigorous alert 90 years old.  But just in case. I've read the books and taken notes. I have no idea if I have the courage required. And still on this topic, " Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer "

  I got up early this morning to an astounding sight: The Moon, Venus and Orion all there together. The photo doesn't do the scene justice, it was magnificent and cheered me up no end. Here's a quick guide to the above photo.    And here is the crescent Moon above Venus, closer up: The names of the constellation reminded me of a book I read a few months ago, " A Scheme of Heaven: Astrology and the Birth of Science " by Alexander Boxer.     It is a brilliant book. There was even a laugh out loud moment, which as a far as I can remember goes like this, reported in a contemporary diary, set in an Italian court in the 1500s: Courtier: "You know astrology is rubbish? It does not work!" Court Astrologer, shrugs shoulders, nods and replies: "But a man has to make a living!" (Strangely, even two modern day astrologers gave the book five stars (as I did). Apparently they had not read the book. Maybe they looked at the illustrations, and guessed what the tex

Sometimes, between a morning of programming and an afternoon of programming I have thirty minutes of complete rest, horizontal, eyes closed. Programming is an art and a craft, so problems swirl around in the brain, unless you distract it. I need the "distraction" to get the most out of my half an hour. Somehow I've come to merge two religious phrases into one. The first is from Buddhism: "What is this?" It is a question which you are supposed to ask yourself intently and honestly. As far as I can tell "this" has never been specified. But oddly enough it does concentrate the mind. The second is from a 14th century work called "The Cloud of Unknowing". In that book it is suggested that you forget a rational or logical or even religiously proscribed way of thinking of God, and just try to pierce the cloud of unknowing (of what God is) with...what...love? Anyway, together the two phrases form a single question: What is this cloud of unknowing? An

I bought this Philips LED light bulb and noticed the words "15 years"... ...really Philips? I haven't met a LED bulb which last more than 3 years so far. The light is on for 12 hours a day, so it should last 30 years don't you think? Well, we'll see, I think though the 15 years a a downright lie . (OK, OK, I have nothing else to do today. O rather nothing else I want to do)

The recent months have shown just how unimaginative 99% of the "creatives", "artists", "writers" and "comedians" of the world are. Their "unique" points of view, their reactions, their jokes are exactly the same as everybody else's. It's Covid this and Covid that, dystopia this and dystopia that. What a bore. Quiet a few celebrities/famous people have been making podcasts. Often they are one one famous person talking to another famous person. Twiggy's is an example... ...but it is not interesting, maybe because the interviewer and the interviewee are friends. Then there are quite a few blokey podcasts, again boring because there is no tension in the discussion, they are just two or three blokes having a chat. The first exception is Grounded with Louis Theroux ... Almost all the episodes have been good, filling an hour with interesting and novel conversation. There is one exception, the one with Chris O'Dowd. It fails may

Tom Wolfe saw the phrase " To lack a persuasive theory is to lack something crucial " in a New York Times review of an exhibition of realist art. He describes this in "The Painted Word", a book which reveals the Emperor's New Clothes of 20th and 21st century art. In 197? Nobody can just look any more. There has to be a theory behind the artwork, else it is worthless. And the theory must be explained. However incomprehensibly. I just do art as a hobby, but I came across a person at my last exhibition who insisted that I needed a theory, else my artworks were just "OK". He was a small old bloke in a crisp suit who came on the last Sunday of the exhibition and picked me up on a phrase in the leaflet. I say there that all I want to do is make art that talks directly to the mind and the eye, without need for explanation. All that is needed is the image, the title and the observer, a perfect triangle.  (“Voglio creare un’arte che parli diretta