TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

In article ,
Andy Champ wrote:

mmm.. true.. but the sunflowers are I think originally from Thrintun.
(OK, I admit it, I had to look that up... world of Ptavvs...)

They were genetically modified from more normal sunflowers by the
Tnuctipun as part of their plan to destroy the Thrintun, but I don't
recall if they are said to have originated on the Thrint or Tnuctip
homeworld.

-- Richard

TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

In article ,
Steve Thackery wrote:

Yeah, yeah, so apart from stabilising our axis, protecting us from
meteorites, creating tidal energy, allowing life to evolve on land, and
providing endless inspiration to poets and songwriters, what has the moon
ever done for us?

It enabled Beowulf Shaeffer to solve the mystery of the Neutron Star.

-- Richard

TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

On 10/05/2011 09:56, Richard Tobin wrote:
In ,
Steve wrote:

Yeah, yeah, so apart from stabilising our axis, protecting us from
meteorites, creating tidal energy, allowing life to evolve on land, and
providing endless inspiration to poets and songwriters, what has the moon
ever done for us?

It enabled Beowulf Shaeffer to solve the mystery of the Neutron Star.


That's the one Larry admitted he got wrong. The ship would leave spinning.

the moon? OK, it gave us a calendar, and nearly became a tool for
navigation. (Lunar distance method)

Andy

TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

In article ,
Andy Champ wrote:

That's the one Larry admitted he got wrong. The ship would leave spinning.

Niven has an annoying tendency to try and fix his mistakes in sequels.
It's one of the things that make each Ringworld book worse than its
predecessors.

-- Richard

TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

"Andy Champ" wrote in message ...
On 10/05/2011 09:56, Richard Tobin wrote:
In ,
Steve wrote:

Yeah, yeah, so apart from stabilising our axis, protecting us from
meteorites, creating tidal energy, allowing life to evolve on land, and
providing endless inspiration to poets and songwriters, what has the moon
ever done for us?

It enabled Beowulf Shaeffer to solve the mystery of the Neutron Star.


That's the one Larry admitted he got wrong. The ship would leave spinning.

the moon? OK, it gave us a calendar, and nearly became a tool for navigation. (Lunar distance method)

Andy
Much of what we know about the sun's photosphere before the space age is due to the accident
of nature that made the apparent size of the moon just right for direct observation during a solar eclipse.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

In article , Steve Thackery
writes

Yeah, yeah, so apart from stabilising our axis, protecting us from
meteorites, creating tidal energy, allowing life to evolve on land, and
providing endless inspiration to poets and songwriters, what has the
moon ever done for us?

Oh come on! A nice tight crack brings a smile to mooner and viewer
alike. ;-)
--
Kennedy
Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he's ****ed.
Python Philosophers (replace 'nospam' with 'kennedym' when replying)

TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Jim Lesurf
saying something like:

I suppose you can argue that the entire Ringworld is an 'import'. :-)

I haven't read that for years, must dig it out. I wonder if a movie was
ever made, or planned. I suspect it wouldn't do the book justice.

TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

In article , Grimly
Curmudgeon
wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Jim Lesurf
saying something like:

I suppose you can argue that the entire Ringworld is an 'import'. :-)

I haven't read that for years, must dig it out. I wonder if a movie was
ever made, or planned. I suspect it wouldn't do the book justice.

I suspect that most movie-makers would try to keep the 'spectacular' side
and spend on special effects and CGI but wash out anything 'technical' for
the usual dumbing down reasons.

Wandering even further off-topic, if you also have a taste for 'space
opera' on a grand scale and/or like the 'Hornblower' books you might find
the 'Honor Harrington' series by David Weber entertaining. Not as
innovative as Niven or Sheffield or perhaps even Hogan, I guess. But more
layers than Beam Piper in my view. :-)

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Jim Lesurf
saying something like:

if you also have a taste for 'space
opera' on a grand scale and/or like the 'Hornblower' books you might find
the 'Honor Harrington' series by David Weber entertaining.

Indeed; I've only recently found them and am working my way through the
series, on book two. Thumbs up, so far.

Regarding Hornblower; I never read the books, but enjoyed the TV series
immensely. My favourite salty sea-dog books were the Richard Bolitho
series [1] by Alexander Kent, pen name of Douglas Reeman for that
series.
Nice bloke, appreciates fan mail :)

[1] Another set to read again, since it's been decades from the first
time around.

TOT moorland fires and turbines
 

In article , Grimly
Curmudgeon
wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Jim Lesurf
saying something like:

if you also have a taste for 'space opera' on a grand scale and/or like
the 'Hornblower' books you might find the 'Honor Harrington' series by
David Weber entertaining.

Indeed; I've only recently found them and am working my way through the
series, on book two. Thumbs up, so far.

I've been buying the USA paperbacks via the web. Annoyingly, the middle
books of the series keep popping in and out of print so you have to keep an
eye out for them being available.

Baen will let often let you download an e-version for nothing as a taster.
Tried starting 'Shadow of Saganami' that way. But I must admit I simply
don't really get on with reading a book on a computer screen. So I suspect
Baen are being clever here. Maybe the newer ebook readers with reflective
images would suit my eyes better.

Regarding Hornblower; I never read the books, but enjoyed the TV series
immensely.

I'm currently working though them again, in between reading John Creasey
books and other things.

My favourite salty sea-dog books were the Richard Bolitho
series [1] by Alexander Kent, pen name of Douglas Reeman for that
series. Nice bloke, appreciates fan mail :)

I tried one book by Kent ages ago but it didn't grab me for some reason.
However my taste varies from month to month, so I'll probably try again
sometime.

Even more of a tangent, I listened to the first part of The Silver Sword on
'Radio 4 extra' (as we are expected to call it) and that prompted me to dig
out my copy. Prefer to read rather than listen. But the radio series sounds
good.

You can probably tell from this that I tend to like a mix of 'nuts and
bolts' SF (e.g. Analog of more than 20 years ago), detective stories, and
some 'kids books'. Not exactly a member of the literati intelligensia when
it comes to what fiction I enjoy[1]. :-)

The SF and crime probably because of the 'puzzle and solution' aspect. The
kids books because kids aren't willing to be snowed into being told how
'clever' a book is. For them to read it, it has to be well written, grab
you at the start, and carry you into 'what comes next' page turning. Common
factor for me is that - apart from some modern exceptions like the
Harrington series - I tend to prefer fiction written at least a few decades
ago.

Slainte,

Jim

That said, when clearing my old office I found a 1990 issue of The
Listener. Sat and read that and really enjoyed it. Tragic that the
magazine was closed down. But of course, not fiction.

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html