with some sad news.

Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, has died.  I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with his works, but there are many eulogies and tributes available online (Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, NPR, Google Search) for you to check out.  Much has been made of his most famous work, 2001: A Space Odyssey (first a book then a movie with Kubrick), but I am most familiar with him though his World of Strange Powers miniseries.

We have lost four brilliant minds in less than a year (Clarke, Ingmar Bergman, Madeline L’Engle, and of course, Kurt Vonnegut).  I’m not sure why this has caught me so off guard, but I can’t help but imagine what my world would be like if I hadn’t read A Wrinkle in Time when I was in elementary school, if Clarke’s World of Strange Powers hadn’t scared the pants off me when I was younger, or if I hadn’t watched The Seventh Seal in college.  I won’t attempt to explain the impact Vonnegut’s oeuvre has had on my love of reading, because I’m not sufficiently talented to explain that in a blog entry.  It seems to me, though, that when an author goes beyond simply keeping the reader’s attention, beyond entertainment, and is able to impact the reader’s perception of the world, the author has tapped into the true power of the written word.  That is, I believe, the point of most (if not all) writing.  Just something to think about.

For your journal (perhaps), here are Clarke’s Three Laws of Prediction:

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

What authors, artists, musicians, inventors, magicians, scientists, politicians, philosophers, or saints have had an impact on your life?

Per aspera ad Astra.

Okay, it isn’t art, nor is it supposed to be.  It is fun, though.  The author of the Slate article makes a point to explain that the very simple game stole the show at the most recent Game Developers’ Conference.  Can the crayon game be compared to others, like Gears of War?  Don’t they do exactly the same thing for us?

Crayon Physics Game

Article from Slate.com (with video!)

We all get a song stuck in our heads every once in a while, but Robert Krulwich interviews a deaf woman who has had music playing in her head for years.  NPR Story

Apparently Google confused it with fakewebsitesellingscheapstuffandstealingyouridentity.com.  I can see how they could make that mistake.

Here is the post planned for the contemporary fiction class:

Heartbreaking Work with Caffeine!

A few of us discussed meeting over the break to discuss AHWoSG, I’ll be at the Starbucks at Utica Square tomorrow (Wednesday) around 2 if any of you want to have a cup and talk about The Real World, playing Frisbee, or how to start your own zine.  Journey’s Greatest Hits will be on repeat.

Any AP folk can join us as well.  No really.

Apparently Google confused it with fakewebsitesellingscheapstuffandstealingyouridentity.com.  I can see how they could make that mistake.

Here is the post planned for the contemporary fiction class:

Heartbreaking Work with Caffeine!

A few of us discussed meeting over the break to discuss AHWoSG, I’ll be at the Starbucks at Utica Square tomorrow (Wednesday) around 2 if any of you want to have a cup and talk about The Real World, playing Frisbee, or how to start your own zine.  Journey’s Greatest Hits will be on repeat.

Nonfiction-y people are welcome, too.  If you guys want to meet at a different time or day to discuss Everything Bad, talk amongst yourselves and post a comment.